The business and culture of our digital lives, from the L.A. Times

Tweets deny that Anonymous will try to hack into Facebook

Anonymous has lobbed many online attacks against high-profile websites, but so far the hacktivist group has never hacked into the world's largest social network, Facebook.

And, if you believe most Anonymous connected Twitter accounts, that won't be changing anytime soon -- despite ongoing rumors and a YouTube video stating an Anonymous-backed Facebook strike is planned for Saturday.

The question of whether Anonymous will attack Facebook got started with that YouTube video, published Monday. The video, which can be seen above, states that the group is targeting the social network as a part of an online war in reaction to two controversial online anti-piracy bills known as SOPA and PIPA that were abandoned by several Washington politicians last week.

"Hello. People of the world. We are Anonymous," a computer generated voice-over says in the video. "The time has come. An online war has begun between Anonymous, the people, and the government of the United States. While SOPA and PIPA may be postponed from Congress, this does not guarantee that our internet rights will be upheld."

Later, the video states that "while it is true that Facebook has at least 60,000 servers, it is still possible to bring it down. Anonymous needs the help of the people, the people who want to take a stand against the government. The people who want to make a difference. This is what we must do."

On Monday, just a few hours after the video was published on YouTube, the @AnonOps Twitter account -- which many believe to be an authentic Anonymous account -- said there were no plans to hit Facebook.

"Again we must say that we will not attack #Facebook! Again the mass media lie," one tweet said.

But while the attack may not be a legitimate Anonymous operation, and while it may never even take place, the group's lack of hacks against Facebook isn't for a lack of threats.

Rogue members of the collective, which has no publicly clear leadership structure, and possibly even impostors have threatened attacks against Facebook multiple times in the past. Notably, one such threat last August planned for Guy Fawkes Day on Nov. 5 never panned out.